Plasticity in food intake, thermogenesis and body mass in the tree shrew (Tupaia belangeri) is affected by food restriction and refeeding

2016 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wen-rong Gao ◽  
Wan-long Zhu ◽  
Fang-yan Ye ◽  
Mu-lin Zuo ◽  
Zheng-kun Wang

Physiological adjustments are important strategies for small mammals in response to variation in food availability. To determine the physiological mechanisms affected by food restriction and refeeding, tree shrews were restricted to 85% of initial food intake for 4 weeks and refedad libitumfor another 4 weeks. Changes in food intake, body mass, thermogenesis, body composition, mitochondrial cytochromecoxidase activity, uncoupling protein-1 content in brown adipose tissue and serum leptin levels were measured. The results showed that body mass, body fat mass and serum leptin levels significantly decreased in food restricted tree shrews, and increased when the restriction ended, showing a short “compensatory growth” rather than over-weight or obesity compared withad libitumcontrols. Resting metabolic rate, non-shivering thermogenesis, brown adipose tissue mass (mg), and uncoupling protein-1 content decreased significantly in response to food restriction, and returned to the control levels after the animals were refedad libitum, while the brown adipose tissue mass (%) and cytochromecoxidase activity remained stable during food restriction and refeeding. Food intake increased shortly after refeeding, which perhaps contributed to the rapid regaining of body mass. These results suggest thatTupaia belangerican adjust the status of its physiology integratively to cope with the lack of food by means of decreasing body mass, thermogenesis and serum leptin levels. Leptin may act as a starvation signal to predominantly mediate the reduction in body mass and energy expenditure.

1997 ◽  
Vol 93 (4) ◽  
pp. 349-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacopo P. Mortola ◽  
Lina Naso

1. Hypoxia is known to decrease thermogenesis. We set out to determine whether this is accompanied by alterations in the brown adipose tissue, which is a major source of non-shivering thermogenesis. 2. Measurements were performed on 25- and 64-day-old rats, after 4 days of hypoxia (10% inspired O2), and on ∼3.5-month-old rats in hypobaric hypoxia since birth, at an ambient temperature of 25°C. 3. All hypoxic rats had higher haematocrit and lower body mass than corresponding controls. 4. In the 25-day-old rats, hypoxia had minimal and non significant effects on brown adipose tissue mass, proteins and DNA concentration. The content of the mitochondrial uncoupling protein thermogenin, evaluated by immunoblot after electrophoretic separation, relative to the cytoskeleton actin (UCP/Act), was not significantly altered. 5. In 25-day-old rats exposed for 4 days to cold (ambient temperature = 7–9°C), brown adipose tissue was hyperplastic, with increased UCP/Act; hypoxia did not appreciably alter the response to cold. 6. In the 2-month-old rats, after 4 days of hypoxia UCP/Act was reduced to about 40% of control. 7. In the 3.5-month-old rats maintained in hypoxia since birth, brown adipose tissue mass was reduced in proportion to body mass, with little effect on total proteins and DNA; UCP/Act was decreased to about 50% of control. 8. We conclude that chronic hypoxia had a minimal effect on brown adipose tissue total proteins and DNA content. However, the uncoupling protein content can be greatly reduced, depending upon age and duration of hypoxia.


1998 ◽  
Vol 274 (4) ◽  
pp. R1131-R1135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Melnyk ◽  
Jean Himms-Hagen

The objective was to characterize the ability of control and transgenic brown adipose tissue (BAT)-ablated uncoupling protein diphtheria toxin A chain (UCP-DTA) mice to adjust food intake in relation to changes in environmental temperature and to assess the involvement of leptin in this adjustment. We measured serum leptin in mice from a previous study of UCP-DTA mice raised at thermoneutrality (35°C) or at the usual rearing temperature (24°C) from weaning [Melnyk, A., M.-E. Harper, and J. Himms-Hagen. Am. J. Physiol. 272 ( Regulatory Integrative Comp. Physiol. 41): R1088–R1093, 1997] and extended the study by acclimating control and obese UCP-DTA mice at 18 wk of age to cold (14°C) for up to 14 days. Leptin levels did not change in control mice at 14°C; however, food intake increased threefold within 1 day and remained at this level. Serum leptin level was elevated in UCP-DTA mice at 24°C compared with control mice at 24°C; this elevated level decreased within 1 day at 14°C and was not different from the level in control mice by 14 days. Food intake of UCP-DTA mice that were hyperphagic at 24°C did not change during 7 days at 14°C, then increased slowly. Similar low leptin levels were present in control mice raised at 24 or 35°C and in UCP-DTA mice raised at 35°C. Food intake of control mice raised at 24°C was two times that of control mice raised at 35°C. UCP-DTA mice raised at 35°C ate the same low amount as control mice raised at 35°C. UCP-DTA mice at 24°C were hyperphagic relative to control mice at 24°C yet had elevated leptin levels in their serum. Two principal conclusions are drawn. First, adjustment of food intake over a fourfold range by control mice acclimated to temperatures from 35 down to 14°C is independent of changes in serum leptin levels. Second, this adjustment of food intake in relation to temperature is defective in the UCP-DTA mouse; the defect leads to hyperphagia at 24°C and a failure to increase food intake as rapidly as control mice when exposed to 14°C. Because lack of UCP-1-mediated thermogenesis in BAT of knockout mice is known not to induce hyperphagia, we propose that deficiency of UCP-1-expressing brown adipocytes in BAT of UCP-DTA mice results in lack of a satiety factor, secreted by these cells in BAT of control mice in inverse relationship to sympathetic nervous system activity.


1986 ◽  
Vol 64 (7) ◽  
pp. 970-975 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Desautels ◽  
R. A. Dulos ◽  
H. M. Yuen

Fasting for 36–48 h or food restriction (30% reduction of daily food intake for 6 weeks) caused brown adipose tissue (BAT) atrophy in hamsters. Fasting-induced atrophy was characterized by reductions in tissue mass, DNA, protein, and thermogenin. By contrast, food restriction had no effect on tissue cellularity (DNA) but markedly reduced the tissue protein and thermogenin contents. The concentration of thermogenin in isolated mitochondria was unchanged by fasting or food restriction. Dystrophic hamsters had a reduced BAT mass when compared with weight-matched control hamsters. This resulted from a reduction in tissue cellularity since BAT DNA, protein and thermogenin contents were all reduced. The extent of binding of [3H]guanosine diphosphate to isolated mitochondria and their content of thermogenin were similar in normal and dystrophic hamsters. In response to cold exposure, as in normal hamsters, BAT of dystrophic hamsters grew and the tissue thermogenin increased, but the mitochondrial concentration of thermogenin did not change. In response to fasting, in contrast with normal hamsters, there was no significant reduction in BAT DNA in dystrophic animals and the loss of tissue protein was reduced. However, the relative changes in BAT composition during chronic food restriction were similar in normal and dystrophic animals. Thus, reduction in hamster BAT thermogenic capacity during food deprivation may occur by loss of cells and (or) reduction in the tissue protein and thermogenin contents. The extent of protein and (or) DNA loss may be dependent upon the original tissue mass and the severity of food deprivation.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuemei Liu ◽  
Xiyu Feng ◽  
Chao Deng ◽  
Lu Liu ◽  
Yanping Zeng ◽  
...  

Abstract BackgroundPrescription of second-generation antipsychotic drugs (SGAs) to childhood/adolescent has exponentially increased in recent years, which was associated with the greater risk of significant sedation, weight gain, and dyslipidemia. Statin is considered a potential preventive and treatment approach for reducing SGA-induced weight gain and dyslipidemia in schizophrenia patients. However, the effect of statin treatment in children and adolescents with SGA-induced dyslipidemia is not clearly demonstrated.MethodsTo investigate the efficacy of interventions of statin aimed at reversing SGA-induced dyslipidemia, young Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were treated orally with either olanzapine (1.0 mg/kg, t.i.d.), simvastatin (3.0 mg/kg, t.i.d.), olanzapine plus simvastatin (O+S), or vehicle (control) for 5 weeks.ResultsOlanzapine treatment increased weight gain, food intake and feeding efficiency compared to the control, while O+S co-treatment significantly reversed body weight gain but had no significant effect on food intake. Moreover, olanzapine treatment induced a slight but significant reduction in body temperature, with a decrease in locomotor activity. Fasting plasma glucose, triglycerides (TG), and total cholesterol (TC) levels were markedly elevated in the olanzapine-only group, whereas O+S co-treatment significantly ameliorated these changes. A down-regulating of uncoupling protein-1 (UCP1) and peroxisome-proliferator-activated receptor-γ co-activator-1α (PGC-1α) expression was observed in brown adipose tissue (BAT) in the olanzapine-only group, following a significant decrease in the ratio of phosphorylated PKA (p-PKA)/PKA. Interestingly, these protein changes could be reversed by co-treatment with O+B. Our results demonstrated simvastatin to be effective in ameliorating TC and TG elevated by olanzapine.ConclusionsModulation of BAT activity could be a partial mechanism in reducing metabolic side effects caused by SGAs in child and adolescent patients.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuemei Liu ◽  
Xiyu Feng ◽  
Chao Deng ◽  
Lu Liu ◽  
Yanping Zeng ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Prescription of second-generation antipsychotic drugs (SGAs) to childhood/adolescent has exponentially increased in recent years, which was associated with the greater risk of significant weight gain and dyslipidemia. Statin is considered a potential preventive and treatment approach for reducing SGA-induced weight gain and dyslipidemia in schizophrenia patients. However, the effect of statin treatment in children and adolescents with SGA-induced dyslipidemia is not clearly demonstrated.Methods To investigate the efficacy of statin interventions for reversing SGA-induced dyslipidemia, young Sprague Dawley rats were treated orally with either olanzapine (1.0 mg/kg, t.i.d.), simvastatin (3.0 mg/kg, t.i.d.), olanzapine plus simvastatin (O+S), or vehicle (control) for 5 weeks. Results Olanzapine treatment increased weight gain, food intake and feeding efficiency compared to the control, while O+S co-treatment significantly reversed body weight gain but without significant effects on food intake. Moreover, olanzapine treatment induced a slight but significant reduction in body temperature, with a decrease in locomotor activity. Fasting plasma glucose, triglycerides (TG), and total cholesterol (TC) levels were markedly elevated in the olanzapine-only group, whereas O+S co-treatment significantly ameliorated these changes. Pronounced activation of lipogenic gene expression in the liver and down-regulated expression of uncoupling protein-1 (UCP1) and peroxisome-proliferator-activated receptor-γ co-activator-1α (PGC-1α) in brown adipose tissue (BAT) was observed in the olanzapine-only group. Interestingly, these protein changes could be reversed by co-treatment with O+B. Conclusions Simvastatin is effective in ameliorating TC and TG elevated by olanzapine. Modulation of BAT activity by statins could be a partial mechanism in reducing metabolic side effects caused by SGAs in child and adolescent patients.


Endocrinology ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 157 (7) ◽  
pp. 2724-2734 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek A. Dionne ◽  
Søs Skovsø ◽  
Nicole M. Templeman ◽  
Susanne M. Clee ◽  
James D. Johnson

Antiadiposity effects of caloric restriction (CR) are associated with reduced insulin/IGF-1 signaling, but it is unclear whether the effects of CR would be additive to genetically reducing circulating insulin. To address this question, we examined female Ins1+/−:Ins2−/− mice and Ins1+/+:Ins2−/− littermate controls on either an ad libitum or 60% CR diet. Although Igf1 levels declined as expected, CR was unable to reduce plasma insulin levels in either genotype below their ad libitum-fed littermate controls. In fact, 53-week-old Ins1+/−:Ins2−/− mice exhibited a paradoxical increase in circulating insulin in the CR group compared with the ad libitum-fed Ins1+/−:Ins2−/− mice. Regardless of insulin gene dosage, CR mice had lower fasting glucose and improved glucose tolerance. Although body mass and lean mass predictably fell after CR initiation, we observed a significant and unexpected increase in fat mass in the CR Ins1+/−:Ins2−/− mice. Specifically, inguinal fat was significantly increased by CR at 66 weeks and 106 weeks. By 106 weeks, brown adipose tissue mass was also significantly increased by CR in both Ins1+/−:Ins2−/− and Ins1+/+:Ins2−/− mice. Interestingly, we observed a clear whitening of brown adipose tissue in the CR groups. Mice in the CR group had altered daily energy expenditure and respiratory exchange ratio circadian rhythms in both genotypes. Multiplexed analysis of circulating hormones revealed that CR was associated with increased fasting and fed levels of the obesogenic hormone, glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide. Collectively these data demonstrate CR has paradoxical effects on adipose tissue growth in the context of genetically reduced insulin.


1987 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nigel J. Fuller ◽  
Dorothy M. Stirling ◽  
Stephen Dunnett ◽  
Gavin P. Reynolds ◽  
Margaret Ashwell

The effects of reducing brain serotonin (5-HT) levels by means of intracerebral-ventricular injections of the tryptophan antagonist p-chlorophenylalanine (PCPA) were investigated in male rats. Six days after the operation, PCPA-treated rats, either fed ad libitum or pair-fed to the food intake of control rats, showed decreased thermogenic activity and capacity in their interscapular brown adipose tissue (BAT) and also increased fat storage in their white adipose tissue (WAT). These results indicate that serotonergic synapses might play a regulatory role in the sympathetic control of BAT thermogenesis and in the rate of WAT deposition (by an as yet unidentified mechanism), in addition to their well established role in controlling food intake.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xue-na Gong ◽  
Hao Zhang ◽  
Di Zhang ◽  
Wan-long Zhu

AbstractThis study investigates the energy strategies of a small mammal in response to food shortages as a function of food restriction (FR), metabolic rate and ambient temperature. We subjected tree shrews (Tupaia belangeri) to FR and measured body mass, survival rate, resting metabolic rate (RMR), nonshivering thermogenesis (NST) and cytochrome c oxidase (COX) activity of brown adipose tissue (BAT). Cold-exposed animals restricted to 80% of ad libitum food intake had significantly increased RMR and NST and decreased body mass and survival rates compared with those kept at room temperature on the same FR level. Animals classified has having a high RMR consumed 30.69% more food than those classified as having a low RMR, but showed no differences in body mass or survival when restricted to 80% of ad libitum food intake. These results indicate that tree shrews, known for their relatively high metabolic rates, are sensitive to periods of FR, which supports the metabolic switch hypothesis. Our findings are also consistent with the prediction that small mammals with food hoarding behaviors, like tree shrews, may have a lower tolerance for food shortages than non-hoarding species.


1985 ◽  
Vol 248 (5) ◽  
pp. E531-E539 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Himms-Hagen

Restricting the food intake of the genetically obese (ob/ob) mouse is known to ameliorate its cold intolerance. Cold intolerance of the ob/ob mouse is associated with defective thermogenesis in its brown adipose tissue. The objective of the experiments was to find out whether food restriction could increase the thermogenic function of brown adipose tissue of the ob/ob mouse. Obese and lean mice were fed a restricted amount of chow in one meal per day for 3-7 mo. Both lean and ob/ob mice were torpid (rectal temperature of approximately 32 degrees C) in the early morning and aroused spontaneously to a normal body temperature before the anticipated meal time. Obese mice were also torpid during the dark phase, whereas lean mice were active and had a normal body temperature at this time. Brown adipose tissue was in a thermogenically inactive state (low level of mitochondrial GDP binding) in torpid lean and ob/ob mice but became thermogenically active (increase in mitochondrial GDP binding) during stimulated arousal when body temperature increased by 6-7 degrees C in 15-30 min. Ad libitum-fed ob/ob mice had a normal diurnal rhythm in a rectal temperature that was at a lower level than in lean ad libitum-fed mice. They did not raise their rectal temperatures when stimulated and no activation of brown adipose tissue thermogenesis occurred under these conditions. Food restriction increased the capacity of both lean and ob/ob mice to raise their metabolic rate in response to injection of noradrenaline, indicating an increased capacity for thermogenesis in their brown adipose tissue.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Endocrinology ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 144 (11) ◽  
pp. 4831-4840 ◽  
Author(s):  
Márcio Pereira-da-Silva ◽  
Márcio A. Torsoni ◽  
Hugo V. Nourani ◽  
Viviane D. Augusto ◽  
Cláudio T. Souza ◽  
...  

Abstract Short-term cold exposure of homeothermic animals leads to higher thermogenesis and food consumption accompanied by weight loss. An analysis of cDNA-macroarray was employed to identify candidate mRNA species that encode proteins involved in thermogenic adaptation to cold. A cDNA-macroarray analysis, confirmed by RT-PCR, immunoblot, and RIA, revealed that the hypothalamic expression of melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) is enhanced by exposure of rats to cold environment. The blockade of hypothalamic MCH expression by antisense MCH oligonucleotide in cold-exposed rats promoted no changes in feeding behavior and body temperature. However, MCH blockade led to a significant drop in body weight, which was accompanied by decreased liver glycogen, increased relative body fat, increased absolute and relative interscapular brown adipose tissue mass, increased uncoupling protein 1 expression in brown adipose tissue, and increased consumption of lean body mass. Thus, increased hypothalamic MCH expression in rats exposed to cold may participate in the process that allows for efficient use of energy for heat production during thermogenic adaptation to cold.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document